


The Story of The Hanging Man

by Cloakseeker



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: F/M, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 04:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5115575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloakseeker/pseuds/Cloakseeker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disclaimer: I do not own the Divergent Series. This is a special Halloween story. Some things in this story are explicit so if you don't like it don't read it. I don't really know how scary it is but I hope you like it. If you aren't registered use my Tumblr to ask me questions christiwind . tumblr . com no spaces</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story of The Hanging Man

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hey everybody. I've decided to write a little story since it's Halloween and all. It's the first time I attempt to write something scary so I hope you like it. Also, I want to warn you. Some of the things are explicit so if you aren't into that sort of thing don't read it.
> 
> In case you have any suggestions to help me improve in the horror department I'm all ears.
> 
> I know that some of my readers are not registered members and you guys sometimes ask me stuff but I can't answer. You can finds me on Tumblr under christiwind . tumblr. com no spaces and ask your questions there. I will answer 100%.
> 
> Enjoy!

Four's POV

Zeke, Shauna, Lauren and I walk down to the Pit enjoying another end of a very long week. Today we concluded the second week of fear simulations and I have to say it was exhausting. I know I have to talk to Tris and tell her that I know of her divergence but every time I try to bring it up she gets defensive. I guess I understand that. She doesn't really know me and she doesn't know that she can trust me that I'll keep her secret safe. She doesn't know we are the same.

As we walk closer to a small group of people I can hear Uriah, Zeke's younger brother and one of this year's initiates talk to someone. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that it is Tris. She hasn't noticed me and I decide to stand in the back and not disturb them. I think Uriah likes her and I can't blame him. She is beautiful, smart, brave – she is just perfect. Ugh, I'm all mushy. I need to get my head out of the gutter.

"Come on Tris, it's your turn" Uriah says.

"I don't know" she says, scrunching her cute little nose.

"Come on. I'm sure even you Stiffs have scary stories" Christina says. Scary stories? What's this all about?

"What's going on with the kids?" Lauren asks Tori, who I only now realize is here too.

"Oh, hey guys" Tori greets as she sees us. "The initiates started telling each other ghost stories. They are all nervous about initiation and Uriah thought of having an early Halloween with everyone in case, you know" she says and we all nod. Ever since last year initiates are getting cut, mostly because they can't get fit in time or are not yet ready to face their fears. I think it's cruel and unjust, but I can't change it.

"Come on, Tris, we all said a story" Will says encouragingly.

"She probably doesn't know any, being the Stiff that she is" Peter spits. I could beat that dude senseless. Tris is twice as brave and smart as he is and yet he thinks he's somehow mankind's answer to all our problems.

"Shut up, bonehead" Lynn says. "Like your fucking story was so great."

"Bitch" he says and stomps off. Good riddance.

"Come on, Tris. At least give it a try" Marlene says.

"Okay" Tris finally agrees. Everyone looks for a place to sit and once everyone actually sits down Tris starts talking again. "This is a story from long ago. It is a true story and the patriarchs tried to cover it up because it's so gruesome. You know my father is on the council" she says and a few nod. I know he is. Andrew Prior. He works with my father and I think they are even friends. "While some of you think I left because of the food" she says pointedly at Christina and I remember their first supper in the cafeteria when Christina joked that it was no wonder Tris left and I chuckle. "I always knew that I didn't fit in. When I was little I overheard a conversation between my father and a few councilmen. They talked about the Hanging Man" she says. I heard rumors about this supposed Hanging Man and even the Dauntless heard of him. But no one really knows the story. Maybe Tris knows something no one else knows. "I didn't get much from what they talked, but I knew where to look for answers. So one night I sneaked out of my house and broke into the Abnegation HQ archives" she says and a round of "oh-s" and "aw-s" are heard. I have to admit, never in a million years would it have crossed my mind to do that. Alone with that she captured everyone's attention. "It took me several nights until I found what I was looking for."

"What did you find?" Uriah asks curious.

"The story of the Hanging Man. I heard all kinds of whispered rumors, but never knew what they meant. Until that day. It was two years ago, before Halloween. We never celebrated it in Abnegation, but one hears stories" she says with a crooked smile, that I find extremely sexy on her.

"Go on" Marlene urges.

"Long ago, during the first few decades after the factions were created a man was sentenced to death by hanging. He had killed countless citizens, no one ever found out how many, but the suspected number was too high for anyone's liking.  
The patriarchs of our city decided to set an example. No man was above the law, no one was better than the others, no one was spared if he or she would commit a crime as heinous as killing someone.  
It happened so long ago that no one remembers the name of the killer. It is said he killed because the urge to do so was too much for him to ignore. He killed young and old, men and women, it didn't matter if the person belonged to a faction or was faction less. Some of the murders were so gruesome that we don't speak of them anymore. One of the wildest accusations was that the people he killed and were never found were skinned and eaten by the killer, even though no one ever found anything to support that theory. Some say he used the skin of his victims to make his own clothes that he wore while killing more people.  
He was hanged in the old meadow, behind Abnegation. Back then the faction wasn't as extended as it is today, so it was far enough to avoid it. The city decided to leave the corpse hanging until nature will claim it. But to everyone's surprise it didn't decompose, it didn't even change one bit. The dead body remained the same for an entire year, until the anniversary of his execution came and the body suddenly disappeared.  
There were many rumors about the strange man hanging in the tree. His body didn't change or decompose and at night people swore they heard strange sounds coming from the meadow. No one dared to go close that place, many believed it was cursed, just as cursed as the man hanging there. Some went as far as to say the devil himself watched over the corpse of his beloved apprentice.  
People got used to the strange sight in the middle of the flower filled meadow. So, the day the hanging man disappeared everyone believed that the devil claimed him. The authorities assured the citizens that probably a prankster is behind the disappearance, but given everything that surrounded the hanging man's death everyone doubted that.  
For a long time the disappearance of the hanging man was on everyone's mind. There were people with the wildest theories ranging from he descended to Hell to he was resurrected by the devil. But soon all these theories, as well as the entire story about the hanging man faded into myth.  
For decades the story was forgotten until one day, on All Hollow's Eve or better known as Halloween, the Hanging Man reappeared in the middle of the meadow. He was seen by a few Abnegation children who never heard the story, for it happened long before even their parents were born. They didn't think much, until the next day a Candor man was found hanging in a tree in the middle of the meadow. People thought he killed himself, but they couldn't understand why. He was well respected in his faction, was happily married, had two beautiful children and had absolutely no reason to take his own life.  
The incident was soon forgotten, until the incident repeated itself the following year. But this time an Amity woman and an Erudite man were found hanging in two different trees. Like before there were no indications that either of them was unhappy with their lives. Soon, the elders allowed the old tale of the Hanging Man to resurface and people, while skeptic, took the warning seriously.  
Since both years the Hanging Man appeared on Halloween and the next day one or more people were found dead, hanging in the meadow, people started to take precautionary measures. Of course, no one really knew what to do to avoid getting killed but that didn't stop them.  
A young man, a faction less, decided to investigate the matter. He left his shelter for the night and hid in the meadow to watch what was going on. Perhaps the so called Hanging Man wasn't who everyone thought he was, but a new killer who liked to scare his victims. The clock showed midnight and the young man found himself shivering. It wasn't like he wasn't wearing a thick Dauntless coat that one Abnegation volunteer gave him, but something else caused the shudder. He turned around slowly, feeling like someone or something was standing right behind him. At that thought he questioned his decision to go to the meadow all by himself, but as he turned he realized he was alone. His mind played tricks on him. He resumed his stalking position, waiting in the shadows for something to happen.  
It wasn't until the early morning hours, three or maybe four in the morning, when a young Dauntless woman came running into the meadow. She looked around frantically as if trying to run away from someone. He barely understood what she spoke, but he clearly heard her plead for her life. 'Please, leave me alone. What do you want with me?' she asked. The young man looked around but couldn't see anyone else there. But she clearly looked at something or maybe someone in front of her. Her eyes were wide with fright, her mouth slightly agape, her whole body trembling. She kept pleading and then her body went rigid. He watched as she walked toward the oldest tree in the meadow, her eyes unfocused and empty, picking up a rope, he didn't even notice until she slung it over a tall branch. She climbed up the tree fastened one end of the rope around the branch and looped the other around her slender neck. She stood up, her face pale and emotionless and she jumped. He heard a silent crack and her head tilted to one side, broken and life ending. He gasped at the sight and wondered what it was he witnessed. For a second time that night he felt a shudder. He turned around slowly but couldn't see a thing. He stood up and walked toward the hanging body, wanting to know more. He approached the lifeless figure with caution unknowing what to expect once near enough. He stretched out his hand trying to touch her, but then he heard a noise behind him. He turned around quickly and before him stood the Hanging Man" Tris says and everyone there gasps.

"Was it the same or a copy-cat?" someone asks.

"It was the one who died a long time ago. But that's not all. The young faction less man was frozen in place, never expecting to see the ghostly figure of a long forgotten scary tale. He wanted to run away, but his legs wouldn't listen. He felt a strange energy coursing through his body, trying to take over his mind. 'You are mine now. You belong to me' a deep, cold voice said in his head and he realized it was the Hanging Man. He thought the energy inside him to take over his body, trying to take in as much as possible. He had to warn the city. He had to speak up. But the Hanging Man had a strong grip on the young man's mind. His gaze was drawn to the two dark as night, soulless pools that the Hanging Man had instead of eyes, the crooked nose that was pointy at the end, the yellow teeth and the black mouth. He smelled of dirt, but not like he would have worked in the field all day long like the Amity, but as if he was underneath it and just resurfaced. His clothes looked like loose rags around his pale, skinny body and he was barefooted. Around his neck was still the rope that took his life, but it seemed to the young faction less man that the Hanging Man wore it as a trophy, not as a sign of his untimely demise.

The energy became unbearable and the young man could barely concentrate anymore. He closed his eyes for just a second and when he opened them again he was hovering over the body of a young Erudite boy. He didn't understand how he got there, since he clearly wasn't in the meadow anymore. He wanted to move his head but realized he couldn't. While he was aware of what was happening he had no control over his body. He looked back down at the boy in front of him, the boy's eyes wide open and a terrified expression on his face. He wanted to open his mouth and ask the boy what the matter is when he felt something go into his mouth that tasted like copper. He looked at his hands and saw blood. He looked at the boy and saw that the boy's upper body was cracked open exposing his inner organs, which seemed to be missing a few pieces. He realized the reason to that is because he was eating them. He kept eating even though he tried to stop himself. The boy's body and blood was still warm and the young faction less man knew that he was the reason this child was dead. He knew that he killed him. He knew it must have happened not too long ago. When he felt like he was too stuffed, the young faction less man grabbed a rusted knife from his trousers that he didn't even know he had and started cutting the boy's skin. He slowly and carefully removed every last bit of the boy's skin leaving him completely without it. But as he stood up he found himself hungry again. He couldn't understand why. He just ate. And he realized something else. He didn't care that he ate raw human organs. He didn't care that the taste of human blood was still on his tongue. The only thing he cared about was his enormous hunger. He turned around and thought that his body will leave this place, but as he turned he realized there were three more people sitting behind him, gagged and restrained. The boy's family. He heard a voice, the Hanging Man's voice, but the spectre wasn't there. He used the faction less man to kill new victims. And he used his mouth to speak to them. 'Who wants to be next?' he asked. The frightened family, who just witnessed getting their son and brother getting violently murdered, skinned and eaten, tried to crawl away, but their restraints kept them from succeeding. 'Now that's not nice' the Hanging Man said. He went toward them and grabbed the mother. He pulled her toward the mutilated body of her son where he pushed her to the ground. He used his rusted, blood-stained knife to remove her silky light blue nightgown exposing her body. He allowed his fingers to trace the curves of her flesh, circling her breasts, contemplating how they would taste in his mouth once he cut them off. He licked his lips and traced his finger down her abdomen until it stopped just above her most intimate part. A thought crossed his mind and he dropped his trousers to the ground. 'It has been so long since I tasted the soft flesh of a woman' he said in the faction less man's mind. 'You were stronger than the others and because of that you didn't just give in and hang yourself. I have to thank you. Now I can enjoy her' he said and the faction less man could see his own reflection in the window glass, a devilish sneer and a hateful expression on his face. He looked back down and saw that the Hanging Man exposed him to the helpless woman. He knew what was coming. And he felt pity for her. And her family. But he couldn't do anything. The Hanging Man controlled his body and there was not enough will power in the world to cast this intruder out of there."

"Don't tell me he…" Christina says, hanging on every one of Tris' words, like we all do. Tris slowly nods.

"Once the Hanging Man played enough with the woman he looked down on her and the faction less man, while trying not to look, realized that the Hanging Man stabbed the woman's abdomen with every thrust into her. He looked further up and saw how his hand holding the rusted knife cut off one of her breasts and how the other hand reached for it before bringing it to his mouth. He could taste blood and a little milk and he eagerly ate it. He pushed his bloody hands into the woman's chest cavity and with an beast like growl pulled her open reaching in to rip her still warm heart out."

"Oh my God" I hear Marlene say and bury her face into Uriah's chest.

"This is so disgusting" Shauna says next to me.

"Did you ever hear about that?" Zeke asks in a whisper, knowing that I also came from Abnegation. I shake my head, still shocked that anyone could do something so gruesome.

"By morning" Tris continues, her voice soft and I realize everyone in the Pit is now listening to her. What usually is a very loud place is solemnly quiet, every pair of Dauntless ears listening to this girl's story. She captivated everyone's attention. I've never seen anyone do that, not even our leaders. "the entire family was dead and eaten. It's needless to say that the patriarchs covered it up to avoid a city wide panic."

"What happened to the faction less man?" someone behind her asks and she turns around, a grave expression taking over her angelic face.

"He was found later that day" Tris answers. "In an abandoned building just outside Erudite. He cut his wrists and wrote one single phrase before dying."

"What did it say?" Christina asks.

"Beware of the Hanging Man" Tris answers.

"Wait a minute" Lauren exclaims and everyone turns to look in our direction. The moment Tris looks over our eyes lock and she looks both surprised and relieved. "If the faction less man died, how did the patriarchs know how the Hanging Man looked like? Or that he is even real?"

"The faction less man isn't the only one who saw the Hanging Man. A few years later, another Halloween night, an Abnegation girl, after hearing of the gruesome mass murder in Erudite, decided to investigate herself. She was confident that by being Abnegation she would easily be missed by the Hanging Man. She wandered into the meadow and hid behind the old oak tree where the man once hung. She waited almost the entire night before a rustling nearby caught her attention. She looked to her right, but there wasn't anything. She looked to her left, but there wasn't anything either. Then, a cold shiver ran down her spine and she knew. She knew where he was. She knew he was there. She knew she was doomed. She wished she never went there. She wished she never left the safety of her Abnegation house. She wished she would lie in her bed and dream of something she loved. In that moment she wished she was strong. In that moment she wished she would be brave. But she wasn't. She was just a scared little girl. Scared of the Hanging Man. She slowly turned around to face the demon that haunts our city. But as she turns she realizes he isn't there. Maybe the cold wind and the anxiety got the best of her. She turns back around and suddenly dozens of corpses hang down from the trees. Men, women, elderly, children, faction members and faction less alike, dangling in the wind, all pale, all wide eyed with fear, all looking at her. And she knew. He was there. It wasn't her imagination. It wasn't the wind. He was there. The Hanging Man. And just as the realization hit her she turned around so quickly that a second didn't even pass on her watch and there he was. Standing in front of her was the undead fiend staring at her with his black, soulless eyes, his mouth agape made her see the yellow rotten teeth and smell death on his breath. He was taller than her and she had to tilt her head to look at him. She wanted to run away, but she was frozen in place. 'You are mine, you belong to me' he said to her. 'I don't want to kill people' she said, tears streaming down her face. 'Yes, you will. But not now. You won't kill them until I tell you' he told her and she cried hard. She never wanted that."

"Did she kill someone?" Lynn asks.

"Not yet" Tris answers. "But she knew that day would come. She knew that the day will come when she will become the Hanging Man. And that day would be when corpses dangle off the ceiling and she would tell the story to her friends" Tris says and for a few seconds there is complete silence. Every pair of eyes is on her and an evil sneer appears on her face. She sits up and points her right index finger toward the ceiling. We all look up and a few shout. The sight before us is horrid and unbelievable. There are several dozen corpses hanging over the Pit floor, dripping blood. Only now I realize the blood must have been dripping for a while now, but we were all so concentrated to hear the story that no one noticed.

"You are next" we hear a deep, cold male voice and as we all look back down Tris stands in front of a tall, skinny man that looks just as the man in her story.

"The Hanging Man" I hear someone shout panicked. And just as I prepare myself to fight, as do others, the lights go out everywhere and I feel a warm liquid fall down on me, almost soaking me. I raise my hand to my nose and smell it. I cringe. It's blood. Does this mean the Hanging Man killed someone of us? Did Tris kill someone? I hear shouts and screams and I feel how people push around and then the lights go back on. I look up the ceiling since there are so many people in front of me and the corpses are gone. The floor is covered in blood and so are most Dauntless who were standing next to me. I manage to look ahead and see Tris smiling devilishly.

"I hope this teaches you all a lesson, especially you, Uriah Pedrad. If you dare to scare any girl one more time I will scare the crap out of you."

"Wait" Uriah says.

"This is a prank?" Marlene asks incredulous.

"It's a scary story and a prank. Pick and choose whichever you like best" Tris says and leaves. As she turns the corner she busts out laughing and her laughter is still heard when she turns to walk to the initiates dorms.

"Is that girl for real?" Zeke asks.

"I wasn't scared" Uriah declares.

"You grabbed my hand so hard I thought you would break it" Marlene says scoffing.

"I never thought a Stiff had it in her to scare so many Dauntless" Lauren says admiringly. Neither did I.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Happy Halloween and watch out for the Hanging Man!


End file.
